Beading away....

I continue with my plan of getting the basic seam embellishments in place on all of the blocks to my beaded crazy quilt. With 5 in various degrees of embellishment I have 4 left to start. Here is a photo of the latest block. It has been a fun challenge to come up with new beading stitches. The center green bugle bead treatment is one of my new one. It started out as a sketch and worked quite well in beads. I do tend to gravitate back to several traditional stitches, like the feather (a personal favorite), chevron and Cretan. Why did I come up with such an ambitious crazy quilt project? My initial inspiration was from an antique quilt. I did not merely want to recreate this quilt, but use some of the design elements in a modern version. I found the applique floral border particularly striking as it is Incorporated on top of the crazy quilt blocks. As soon as I get each of the block with some basic stitching, I will be sewing everything together and working on the border. Another element that I am using is the play of light and dark fabrics. If you look at the corner detail photo of the antique quilt below you can see the change in fabrics.